Reflecting on our two-week journey to learn more about the rich history of Taiwan, I am thankful to be a part of the first International Educators Administrators (IEA) program for Fulbright Taiwan. I hope to give back by taking what I have gained and building upon it: I want more people to learn about the Fulbright Taiwan vision: “a world with a little more knowledge, and a little less conflict.” I am a “Southern” girl. I was born in the South of the United States, in Burlington, North Carolina. Growing up, I also spent five years in…

Professional Development My participation in the Fulbright International Education Administrators Seminar in Taiwan in March 2017 broadened my professional experience in East Asia, which was previously limited to organizing site visits to Japan (2007) and China (2016). The Fulbright experience helped me contextualize a deepening engagement with partnerships in Taiwan and explore new opportunities for both student exchange and faculty collaboration. The Fulbright Taiwan IEA seminar provided me with an in-depth professional and intercultural learning experience quite different from the experiences I have had leading site visits or student groups. I was able to focus on…

Having been an international educator for more than ten years, my entire career has been focused on supporting and enhancing internationalization efforts at various institutions. Several years ago, I attended a session on the Fulbright International Education Administrators (IEA) seminars at a NAFSA conference. In this session, attendees mentioned the invaluable opportunity they had to participate in the Germany seminar. Little did I know that I, too, would be afforded such an opportunity of tremendous personal and professional value. Senator J. William Fulbright had a vision to make the world a more peaceful and friendly place through his…

It is with great anticipation and excitement that I embark on this new journey of exploration, discovery and learning through the Fulbright Taiwan program. I deeply appreciate the thorough preparations and full support from the dedicated staff of the Foundation for Scholarly Exchange (Fulbright Taiwan); I felt well taken care of from as early as the pre-departure stage. My first Fulbright experience was in Japan fifteen years ago. It was an amazing experience both culturally and educationally. Since then, I’ve had many opportunities to participate in educational visits almost annually in countries such as Spain,…

I recently discovered that I indeed had something in common with the esteemed Paul Krugman, the 2008 winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics. Not surprisingly, it has to do with Taiwan. My recent visit back to the island brought back to mind many of the reasons why my family and I grappled with leaving in the first place, yet they also put a smile on my face and cemented the adoring image we have always had whenever the thoughts of Formosa, The Beautiful Island, came up. First, a little background: We came to Taiwan just after…

Introduction I had the pleasure to serve as a Visiting Professor in the Foreign Languages and Literature Department at Tunghai University in Taichung, Taiwan, 2015-2016. I taught undergraduate and graduate classes in creative writing and American literature, with a special focus on Asian American literature. My teaching in fall 2015 was rewarding, but also challenging. I did not keep a formal teaching log that term. In the hopes of becoming an increasingly effective classroom teacher, I committed to keeping a teaching log in spring 2016. After every class session, I typed up a short entry…

For one semester, I taught and conducted research in a Buddhist Pure Land! I spent the 2016 fall semester on Dharma Drum Mountain, a green mountainous Buddhist community located in Jinshan District, north of Taipei. This Buddhist community includes the Dharma Drum Institute of Liberal Arts, where I taught a graduate seminar on Comparative Religious Texts. The Dharma Drum Mountain is also home to a 4-year Sangha University to train Buddhist monks and nuns as well as the international headquarters of Dharma Drum organization, known as the Dharma Drum Mountain World Center for Buddhist Education and the…

Project Background This year has marked a new milestone in my academic career by becoming a Fulbright Senior Scholar and embarked on a new research on promoting digital equity in Taiwan. I had the privilege to work with researchers in three host universities at National Sun Yat-sen University and Cheng Hsiu University of Science and Technology in Kaohsiung and Fu Jen University in Taipei. The topic of my project is “Promoting Digital Equity through the E-Tutor Program.” The E-Tutor Program is a nation-wide program implemented by the Ministry of Education in Taiwan, aiming…

“I HAVE LOTS OF MONEY!” It was the second time that I said this to the saleslady at Vitamin World. I had never said this before in my entire life. I had to say it because she insisted on paying for the vitamins I selected, and she wanted to give me cash for dinner after she found out that my credit card was over the limit (and I am a foreigner travelling in her country). Also, at a famous BBQ restaurant in Dayton, Ohio, a waitress offered me 16 different side dishes for free after I curiously…

In 2014 I read a news article that shocked me. A large semiconductor manufacturer in southern Taiwan was fined a paltry $90,900 for discharging untreated toxic wastewater (hydrochloric acid) into a river, affecting hundreds of acres of farmland and the health and livelihoods of thousands of people. What’s more stunning is that after a second trial the following year, the Taiwan High Court’s Kaohsiung branch reversed the lower court verdict and acquitted four executives and employees of all charges, clearing the company of the fine imposed by the District Court in the first ruling. …